Moncler Grenoble’s Aspen Takeover: A Nostalgic Yet Performance-Driven Affair
The light on the hill moved slowly, as if decelerated by the sub-zero air. At the top of the rise, a grove of aspen trees–glowing bone white in the night–served as a kind of abstract stage door. Through them, Moncler Grenoble’s models emerged one-by-one from the glade, with Gigi Hadid leading the charge. They would walk and wander through a mogul field, each concluding their lap on a different mound. What resulted was a finale tableau that, staging-wise, had been in the making since October, 2025 (that’s when the buildout for this show started).
The performance marked the conclusion of Moncler’s weekend takeover of Aspen, Colorado, the famously ritzy ski-town in which the Franco-Italian brand first arrived in 2008. On Friday, Moncler Grenoble–the performance-driven but still style-forward line launched in 2010–debuted its very first U.S. store, catty-corner from the label’s original outpost on East Hyman Avenue. A celebratory dinner party was held at the Caribou Club; a luncheon followed on Saturday at Casa Tua.
The company also booked out Aspen’s historic Hotel Jerome, which first opened in 1889. The property ended up serving as something of an inspiration for Moncler’s chairman and CEO, Remo Ruffini. He appreciated its “cowboy” history and its rustic tinge. That led him to fast forward a few decades; he directed his designers to think about American western alpine style in the 1950s, a time when Aspen was far lower-key than it is now. (And, tied-in, Moncler itself was founded in 1952.)
What resulted fell in line with that nostalgia and, daresay, sense of understatement; this was a Moncler Grenoble that felt less edgy (a compliment) than it has in the past. The collection wasn’t soft–the technicality and exactitude of the Grenoble threshold was palpable–but it was relatively whimsical. A hand-drawn “map” of Aspen featuring landmarks and fauna was applied to foulards and wearable blankets. Hand-embroidered flowers were seen on collars. Puffer jackets, Moncler’s most known item, had appliqués of pine trees and hikers. There were plenty of other throwback moments, too, with fringe, Moon Boots with cowboy boot stitching, waistcoats and wide-corduroy parkas among them.
That all of the mid-century visual quaintness worked as well as it did is a real credit to Moncler’s designers and engineers; these are high-end clothes and items when it comes to performance, but aesthetically, a lower-key verve felt exactly right.
